On July 16th twenty-two women packed into the Women’s Centre’s workshop room for a discussion on Alberta’s proposed Social Policy Framework as part of an engagement project entitled, “Speak. Share. Thrive.” Once completed, the project is intended to provide overarching goals, values and strategies to inform Alberta’s social policies and programs – things like childcare, employment, housing, and poverty.
The Province will develop a draft of the Social Policy Framework in September.
Connected to the Women’s Centre through an array of different capacities, the diverse group of forum participants spent three hours in small discussion groups answering the following questions:
- What words would you include in your vision for social policy?
- What results are needed in order to achieve your vision for Alberta’s social policy?
- What principles should guide social policy in Alberta?
- What actions could help achieve the desired outcomes for Albertans?
A keyword search in the final notes from the discussions found that these women talked about:
- Strengthening communities (in terms of capacity, access, resources, community centres and recreational opportunities) – 27 times
- Increased access, quality and affordability of child care – 18 times
- Accountability – 9 times
- A living-wage or guaranteed income – 7 times
There is still a chance to lend your voice to this project on the Social Policy Framework’s website by filling out the survey, editing the wiki or sending the Human Services Social Policy Framework team an e-mail.
More information on Alberta’s Social Policy Framework:
Review the library of material contributed by other participants & other background documents
-Leah Kelley, Social Issues Coordinator